Gallup Poll: Better Than 1 in 4 Americans Believe the Bible is the 'Actual Word of God'

Editor and Publisher ^ | May 22, 2006 | Gallup Poll

[freedomdefender]

Better than one in four Americans believe that the Bible is "literally true and the actual word of God," the Gallup organization reported this afternoon.

A Gallup poll taken this month gave 1,002 respondents three choices: The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word; the Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally; or the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.

The number of those backing the "literal" view was 28%, with 49% selecting the "inspired word of God" option and 19% the "fables" view.

Not surprisingly, the number of literalists rose somewhat with age, and the highest number live in the South.

By party affiliation, backing the literal word of God view, it broke down as 33% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats and 24% of Independents.

There has been a gradual decline in recent decades of those who believe that the Bible is literally true, but only by a few percentage points.

[BamaFan]

You don't sound smug or anything, in fact it's nice to chat w/ you. I'm curious to know what council of long ago you think established Maccabees position outside the canon?

[BamaFan]

I'm a member of a Southern Baptist church now (wife is a lifelong Baptist) and have been pleasantly surprised at the difference in my current preacher and the SB preachers I remember from my youth. However, the damage caused by the extreme literalists (and they're prolific here...Pensacola is the home of Dr. Hovind, after all) will take a long time to repair. The only reason I gave my preacher a chance is because of family affiliations.

[stars & stripes forever]

The Need for Workers

MATTHEW 9:35-38
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”